The present invention relates generally to impellers that are mounted to rotating shafts for use in a variety of reactors, vessels and mixing apparatus. Rotating shafts with impellers and such vessels are in wide use in the chemical, petroleum, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food preparation and other industries.
Impellers mounted to rotating shafts in mixing vessels are well known. Commercial mixing vessels typical have two, three, or four impellers extending radially outward from the rotating shaft. These impellers often are manufactured from sheet stock by being formed and then further processed if necessary to provide a finished impeller that can be mounted to the shaft. The labor involved in forming and finishing an impeller can be extensive, particularly since different impeller shapes are used in different sizes and shapes of mixing vessels and for different applications.
Accordingly, it is desired to have a method and device for providing a finished impeller quickly and inexpensively, where the impeller can be adapted to have different sizes and shapes to fit the particular mixing requirement.
It is therefore a feature and advantage of the present invention to provide a finished impeller quickly and inexpensively, where the impeller can be adapted to have different sizes and shapes to fit the particular mixing requirement.
It is another feature and advantage of the present invention to provide an impeller device and method utilizing individual impeller sections mounted in a stacked arrangement onto a beam or rod, which may be at least partially threaded. The above and other features and advantages are achieved through the use of a novel impeller device and method as herein disclosed.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an impeller for use in a mixing apparatus having a rotating shaft has at least one longitudinal member extending substantially radially from the shaft; and a plurality of individual impeller segments each having a bore therethrough. The segments are stacked together with the longitudinal member extending through said bores.
In one embodiment, the longitudinal member may be an at least partially threaded rod, and in another embodiment, the longitudinal member may be a beam.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of assembling an impeller for use in a mixing apparatus having a rotating shaft is provided, employing the steps of stacking a plurality of individual impeller segments onto a longitudinal member that extends substantially radially from the shaft; and fastening the stacked impeller segments onto the longitudinal member to retain the impeller segments on the longitudinal member.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract included below, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.